Speaking at an event in Hyderabad, Sitharaman also urged students of all institutes under the aegis of the commerce ministry to follow the five principles outlined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his independence day speech this year, which includes moving forward with a bigger resolve of a developed India.

“Learn about sustainable designs already produced by India and improve them for the ease of living of the present age,” Sitharaman said. Quoting various examples of indigenous sustainable designs in leather and the jewellry patterns, the minister called upon the students to be both, “agents of change and agents of continuity”

Piyush Goyal, minister for commerce and industry, consumer affairs and food and public distribution and textiles, who also spoke on the occasion, said that collaborative effort and breaking silos will transform India into global power soon.

The ministers were speaking at a students meet of all the institutes under the aegis of the commerce ministry– National Institute of Fashion Technology, National Institute of Design, Footwear Design & Development Institute, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade and Indian Institute of Packaging.

The world over, the Indian economy is being looked at as a bright spot, Goyal said. He highlighted the innovations that the country came up with during the covid pandemic in production of personal protection gears and testing swabs.

Goyal urged the students to come up with good designs which lead to cost reduction. Interacting with the audience, Goyal promised to put in place a completely online system for obtaining patents which would further strengthen the environment for innovation for start-ups.